Commuters join vanpools to cut gas costs

With the price of gas creeping closer to the $5 mark for regular unleaded, more commuters are packing into vanpools to avoid driving to workVan after van rode into a parking lot in Palmdale, shuttling workers to L.A. and beyond.

Officials with the vanpool service for the city of L.A. said record high gas prices have increased rideshare demand throughout the Antelope Valley so dramatically that they don't have enough vans to meet the overwhelming need.

Sonia Guel, a city vanpool rider, pays about $85 a month to use the service, adding that the cost is a bargain compared to the price of filling up her SUV gas tank.

"It takes $95 to fill up my tank, one time," Guel said. She fills up her tank twice a week.

Vanpool riders said if they had to drive to work, they'd have to question whether they could afford to drive to work.

"It would be on the credit cards," said Barbara Tolentino, a vanpool rider.

Vanpool driver Bert Moklebost has been working for the vanpool service for over 10 years, but he has never seen so many people so desperate to park their cars and climb aboard.